Page 686 - LITTLE WOMEN
P. 686

Little Women


                                  John will see what I’ve gladly sacrificed for them, won’t
                                  he, my precious?’
                                     To which pathetic appeal daisy would answer with a
                                  coo, or Demi with a crow, and Meg would put by her

                                  lamentations for a maternal revel, which soothed her
                                  solitude for the time being. But the pain increased as
                                  politics absorbed John, who was always running over to
                                  discuss interesting points with Scott, quite unconscious
                                  that Meg missed him. Not a word did she say, however,
                                  till her mother found her in tears one day, and insisted on
                                  knowing what the matter was, for Meg’s drooping spirits
                                  had not escaped her observation.
                                     ‘I wouldn’t tell anyone except you, Mother, but I really
                                  do need advice, for if John goes on much longer I might
                                  as well be widowed,’ replied Mrs. Brooke, drying her tears
                                  on Daisy’s bib with an injured air.
                                     ‘Goes on how, my dear?’ asked her mother anxiously.
                                     ‘He’s away all day, and at night when I want to see
                                  him, he is continually going over to the Scotts’. It isn’t fair
                                  that I should have the hardest work, and never any
                                  amusement. Men are very selfish, even the best of them.’
                                     ‘So are women. Don’t blame John till you see where
                                  you are wrong yourself.’
                                     ‘But it can’t be right for him to neglect me.’



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